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H. s. PULLMAN.

GATGH PLATB'FOR SHOE GLASPS. 7 N0. 346,945. Patented Aug. 10, 1886.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES HERBERT s. PULLMAN, or ROOKVILLE, CONN, ASSIGNOR TO J. o. HAM- MOND, JR, OF SAME PLACE, AND T. E. KING, or WES'PPORT, CONN.

CATCH-PLATE FOR SHOE-=CLASPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 346,945, dated August 10. 186.

Application filed May 27, 1886.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT S. PULLMAN, of Rockville, Tolland county, State of Connectieut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Catch-Plates for Shoe- Olasps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of devices that find their commonest use on the class of overshoes known as arctics and on brogans and like articles of foot-wear. lts object is to provide a wire catch-plate or take-up for such a shoe-clasp; and to this end my invention consists in a catch-plate or takeup made of wire bent to form a series of crosswise holding-bars for the tongue of the shoeclasp, and in further details of such take-up, as more particularly hereinafter described,and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a shoe-clasp with the tongue formed of wire and the take-up also'made of wire in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the parts engaged, the take-up or catch-plate being shown in central longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a rigid tongue partly engaging the wire take up, the outward spring of the sides of the latter being shown in dotted outline. Fig. 4 is an edge view of the take-up and tongue shown in Fig. 3.

Clasps having the tongue formed of wire bent to shape are shown and described in United States Letters Patent of March 31, 1885, N 0. 314,669, and January 19, 1886, No. 334,434, and my within described improvement in catch-plates, or, more properly, the take-up of a shoe-clasp, is particularly intended to pro vide a complete shoe-clasp both parts of which may be made of wire.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes the tongue, with a sleeve, 1), about which the end of a strap, c,'is foldedin attaching the tongue to a shoe.

The letter (1 denotes one form of take-up made in accordance with my improvement, the wire composing such take-up being bent to shape with holding-bars l,formed by crosswise bends from each of the side parts, (1 d of the frame of the take-up, inturned loops be- Serial No. 203,470. (No model.)

along its length, the opposite parts not being 7 connected except at the ends. This take-np is preferably formed of a single piece of wire, the loop 6, where the ends of the wire are joined, being preferably used to pass the strap 6 through as a means of attaching the take-up to a shoe.

An advantage of this improvement is, that such a take-up presents in all the loops or crosswise openings a frame of wire that is rounded in cross-section, so that there is but slight danger of cutting out a strap turned through such a loop, and there is also less friction between the plate and the tongue in fastening and in unfas'tening a clasp having such a take-up. The edges of the openings in the ordinary take-up made of sheet metal to receive a tongue are usually sharp andrough.

A further advantage of such a take-up is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, in which the tongue f is of any rigid material as of plate metalthat will not yield edgewise, the tongue at the bent portion being slightly wider than the tongue-receiving opening in the take-up is long. WVhen the tongue is thrust into one of the openings in my improved take-up,the sides of the latter are thrust apart in the plane of the take-up, and then closed together after the broader part of thetongue has passed through. This construction forms in the take-up plate the spring featirre usually embodied in the tongue or tongue-plate for the purpose of holding the tongue in engagement with the takeup and against accidental unclasping. In this latter form of the device the ends of the wire in loop e are preferably united firmly, as by soldering.

It is evident that the take-up can be made ..,of wire bent to form a series of crosswise openings for the reception of a tongue, and to form crosswise holding-bars in other forms than that herein shown and described, without departing from my invention; and I do not limit myself to the particular form of take-up here in shown, the material requisite being that it shall be of wire bent to form a plural number of'tongue-receiving openings.

3. In combination with a hook-shaped tongue, f, having a broadened part near the bend, a laterally-expansible take-up plate or 15 frame made of wire, and having a plurality of inward side bends adapted to receive the tongue of the clasp, all substantially as described.

HERBERT S. PULLMAN.

WVitnesses: V

GELON W. .Wns'r, JOsEPH O. HAMMOND, Jr. 

